Arifu: grimoire of the abyss
by haelstromn
Summary: A few years after the incident with Tortus, Nagumo Hajime was spending his time peacefully, as he was suddenly transitioned to another another world. In this world he acquires the grimoire that allows him to use magic freely with some consequenses to his body [fem! Hajime]
1. Prologue

There were thought to be multiple universes, all with different scenarios. Some of them are completely different, while others are similar yet not. Nagumo Hajime was someone who had been traveling to and from different worlds thanks to his experience in another world called 'Tortus'. To be more accurate, he was kidnapped by a false god named Ehitto, along with his other classmates. Although he only acquired the simple common job as a synergist, he still worked hard to achieve victory. While he was trapped in that world, he had a myriad of different experiences. While some are good, he also suffered from bad experiences as well. This experience had him acquired lost powers that existed in the age of the gods. He also acquired a lot of companions along his journey. After a lot of tragic events, finally he managed to annihilate the false god and returned home along with his other companions. This experience grant him power and entitled him to be a god slaying demon king. He is the worlds strongest, even though he had a common occupation.

Peace had risen after the fall of the false god, and Nagumo Hajime spent the rest of his life at peace with his 7 wives and daughter and the rest of his family. And such Hajime is currently doing grocery shopping at the nearby convenience store. During his way back he sensed some kind of distortion.

"Hm?... What was that?"

Before he could react space distorts around him and sends him through another world.


	2. Chapter 1 New World

"Huh? Where the hell is this?"

Standing in the middle of a wasteland is Nagumo Hajime, a young man who looked like he's only 17. He is wearing a white T-shirt covered by a black leather jacket, and he wears a black jeans. He has black hair and black eyes, while his appearance is above average, he had an atmosphere that attracts quite the attention making him attractive . He is currently confused and exasperated knowing what just happen.

"Did I just got transitioned to another world? Where am I?"

Looking around, all he could see are land devoid of life. He thinks for a second that this world is uninhabitable, but dismiss that idea considering he was able to breathe, and he could see that this place has an atmosphere for human to live.

So that he won't waste time immediately he take out the 'compass' that could search for anything in the multiverse, and the 'gate key' that could open a gateway to anywhere in the multiverse. He contemplated for a moment whether he would return home or scout the area to look for something interesting. But before he could make a decision he detected a presence filled with killing intent directed at him.

He leap back to safety and observe his assailant who was just dive bombed into the place where he had been and flew away to make another strike. The assailant looked like a giant bird covered by black feathers and red veins pulsated throughout his body.

"A demonic beast?"

The black bird seemed similar to the demonic beasts on 'Tortus'. The beast seems angry for missing it's prey from the surprise attack, and swoop down in an attempt to make another strike. Just as it approcaches within an arms reach it's head was decapitated by Hajime.

Using one of his skills, 'air claw', he manage to kill his enemy without effort. _Weak,_ he thought as he scans the area for another attack but only met with silence. It seems that the beast was a bird of prey, which means that it only traveled alone. From the looks of it's body, indicates that it haven't eaten for a few days. Which also means that there is no prey within this wasteland.

And so Hajime thought that he would explore this world just for a few moments.

He immediately call his family about what happened and also store the corpse of the bird in his 'treasure warehouse', an artifact that could store anything within it. After he finished he immediately traveled through the wasteland in the two-wheeler he summoned from 'treasure warehouse' into the nearest population directed by the 'compass'. He also chages his attire to the one he used while he was during a battle. Which includes a long black overcoat.

—XXXXX—

After 45 minutes of traveling, he saw at the horizon what seems to be a giant wall about 50 meter in height made of what seems to be concrete. Before he could reach the wall, he place his two-wheeler in his 'treasure warehouse' and walk the rest of the way.

When he reaches the wall there seems to be a large closed gate with a couple of guards wearing military uniform that are armed with mechanized swords. From the looks of it the guard appears to be female.

(Is this a fantasy world, or a sci-fi world?)

Hajime thought as he approaches on of the guard. One of them noticed him and became wary at his presence.

"Halt! Who goes there? Show me your identification"

The guard commands demanding some identification. Which Hajime immediately answers.

"Nagumo Hajime, You don't need to know anything else"

"Very well then, you may proceed"

Hajime said that as he waves his right hand which was holding his smartphone, which also has a function to hypnotize people using 'soul magic'. He said his line just like a certain someone in the movie about wars in the stars. The guards, who didn't feel anything strange, comply and sends him inside the gate. _Well that worked,_ thought Hajime with the feeling of triumph considering he used a technique from a movie as if it's normal. Such are the absurdity of the 'demon king'.

—XXXXX—

As soon as he's inside he noticed a few things. 1) all the military officials are females. 2) the level of technology is advanced but most of them are using swords. 3) most of the military officials are young. He predicts that most of them are 17-18 years old. He searches around stores to see if he could sell some items for money.

After 20 minutes he managed to sell some jewelries he had to a jeweler and gain a lot of money. The jewelries he sold were the ones he made using 'transmutation'. On earth after the incident Hajime creates a strore that sells jewelries and clothes to gain money.

While Hajime was sightseeing, a shockwave follow by a roar resounds through the neighborhood.

"GROOOAAAR!!!"

With that roar, a monster about 30 meter tall blasts away part of the wall connecting to the outside. What appeared was a 30 meter tall humanoid giant with black skin covered by red veins around his whole body, it also has a compound eye which helps increase it's point of view, and a big mouth with sharp teeth that can crush any objects it eats.

Immediately after it's appearance an alarm resound the entire neighborhood ordering the civilians to evacuate to a safety bunker. Hajime watches all this while erasing his presence so that no-one can see him. The evacuation proceeds smoothly as if this had happened before. The military officers held back the giant using their mechanized swords which can also be used as a range weapon. The swords shoot out energy blast at the giant in hope to at least damage it a little.

(Hmm? Are those powered by magic power?)

Hajime thought about their technology. Considering the advancement of technology, it's a wonder they uses magic for their power supply.

(Not that I can say anything considering I also uses magic power as my power supply)

Although the weapons has great fire power it did close to nothing against the giant. Judging from the reactions of the commander in-charge and the rest of the officers, something like this is not normal. And from lip-reading several people, Hajime figures out that the giant is called the 'Colossus', an S-grade threat level. Which means that the people here are doomed if they didn't have any counter measures.

Just as he thought this, a streak of light approaches the 'Colossus' and sends his body tumbling down. Hajime immediately looks for the source of the attack and spotted someone hovering in the sky. The source of the attack came from a female that looks to be 17 years old with waist-length blue hair and blue eyes. She is wearing a skin-tight suit with some armor plating. The female also appears to be holding a giant mechanized great sword about 2 meters in length. Although human eyes can't perceive it, Hajime's right artificial eye saw that the female's body is covered by a layer of protective magical energy, so she is not as defenseless as she appears to be.

( Hmm...interesting, the armor has the same ability as 'vajra', and it seems that it's always active )

'Vajra' is alse one of Hajime's skills that allows him to protect himself by covering his own body with a layer of magial energy.

While he thought that, as the female tries to charge another strike from her sword, the 'Colossus' return fire without giving her time to react. The 'Colossus' fired a large beam of red colored energy from it's compound eye into the female warrior. The female seems fine even though she was hit directly by the beam, return fire after regaining posture and position.

The fight continues for several minutes of them firing and dodging at each other. It seems that the girl was buying some time for either reinforcements or some kind of trump card. Because after a few more minutes, a volley of energy blasts are launched at the giant. It seems that reinforcements arrived. Hajime could see that an army came marching with their (what appears to be) tanks. With their combined assault the giant staggers and crouch down on the spot, giving the female warrior time to launch another attack. This time she operates her sword and the blade shines with a bright blue color. She then flew to the giant to strike a large blow. A soon as she approaches she thrusts her great sword into the giants head, piercing through it's skull.

The giant then staggers again and collapses on to ground. The battle ended with only some damage to the surrounding of the huge hole in tha wall. The girl immediately lands and pants because of exhaustion. Her armor dematerialized revealing the girl's body in her skin-tight bodysuit.

( it seems like it's the kind that consumes energy as long as it's activated and dematerialized after it's energy is exhausted )

Hajime thought this as he observed the battle, and he immediately summon his weapon, 'schlagen', from his 'treasure warehouse', because the battle is not over.

—XXXXX—

Ciel Grandania, a warrior of eden's valkyrie from the Grandania family. She is 17 years old and has already been promoted into a valkyrie from einherjar at the age of 16. Valkyries are elite warriors handling the threat of tyrannal beasts with threat level ranging from C-grade to SSS-grade. While einherjars are warriors or soldiers handling threat levels at the range of F-grade to D-grade.

After years of training Ciel managed to reach S-rank at the age of 17, and her first assignment is to subjugate the 'Colossus' that appeared in the eastern gate.

A few minutes after the battle, the V-drive immediately loses power and dematerialized her armor. In this state, although a valkyrie can still defend herself, she is at her most vulnerable position.

( it's a good thing I finished it off before my power run out )

As soon as she thought this, the giant thought to be dead rises back up slowly. Although a part of it's head is destroyed, it still manages to somewhat move albeit slowly. It also began to ever so slowly regenerating it's wound. Ciel interally curses at the giant.

( damn! I missed the core! )

While some tyrannal beasts die the moment their heads are separated, high grade beasts will only die by having their core destroyed. As Ciel thought that she will die because of her carelessness, a flash of light followed by a roar and sparks of lightning resounded the entire area.

The flash of light was Hajime using 'schlagen', an anti-material rifle that are 10 times more powerful than a normal anti-material rifle that the military had, combined with his skill 'lightning clad' to super charge the acceleration of the bullet using electromagnet, turning it into a railgun, further increasing it's destructive powers. The railgun was aimed at the head of the rising 'Colossus', more specifically the core. Using his scope and aiming skills that are considered godly, he pierced the core shattering it while scorching the giants flesh. Fortunately he aimed his rifle upwards because of the position of the head, and didn't cause any damage to the surrounding area.

Even though Hajime always thought that saving people was troublesome, he still had some common sense to save someone from a disaster. Although immediately after he shot his rifle, he put away 'schlagen' into his 'treasure warehouse' and hid his presence, disappearing from the area before people notices what happened.

—XXXXX—

After a few moments of silence in the area, everyone was dumbfounded at just what happened. Ciel was feeling confusion and relief at what just happened. She looks around to see if she can identify her savior, but didn't spot anything. Usually people would immediately take credit and boast about saving someone's life, or at least approach the victim to tend to their safety. She had always repayed the gratitude of the one that helped her, but this individual seem to keen on hiding his achievement. She was also curious at what weapon that individual used to kill the 'Colossus'. Even though it's already weakened it is still not an easy feat to kill it in one shot with pinpoint accuracy through the core.

However Ciel didn't have much time to be idle since she has to report her mission.

—XXXXX—

Somewhere in the vault with a very high security, in the dark room with no light, a single entity has awoken.

"The Demon King has arrived"


	3. Chapter 2 New Change

After the death of the 'Colossus', the military immediately begins the cleanup of the aftermath of the battle. While this was ongoing, Hajime was exploring the cityscape. The city itself has the design from western countries, and the technology level is similar or more advanced than modern technology. All of this are probably caused by using magic power as it's power source. Generally, all living beings has and produces magic power, that means the people itself are the power source. Just like how plants produce oxygen, all living beings produce magic energy.

While Hajime was enjoying his sightseeing trip he heard a voice directed through his mind.

'Come demon king'

'Who are you?'

Hajime returns the voice with a question using one of his skills, 'telepathy'. Although he didn't know where the voice came from, he can still reply to them. The voice also seems to be female.

'I'm not important. It is you who are needed'

The voice answers with a monotone dialogue with a hint of sadness. It reminded him of Yue, the vampire he rescued from the abyss, who also happens to be his first wife.

'If you're not important than I would not care in the slightest of what you're going to say'

Hajime answers back with the attitude as if he didn't care at all.

'No, you need me'

The voice claimed with a hint of desperation.

'Why would I need you? If you know that I'm the demon king, then you know that I'm already powerful enough'

'But with all that power, you would still not able to escape from this world'

'What do you mean? I can just create a gate through worlds and I'd be back home'

'This world is located at a slightly troublesome position, you can't use your 'gate key' like you usually do to travel through worlds, although you can still use it if it's within thos world'

At this suddn revelation, Hajime begin to be lost in thought.

'I see. If you're telling the truth, then you're saying that you can give me power to do so'

'Yes'

'What's in it for you? there is no such thing as free items'

After a moment of silence, the voice answers his question as if she's doing a confession.

'...Freedom'

That one word significantly describes her current situation.

(either she was a sealed evil, or she was wrongly sealed because she's a threat)

Hajime thought for a second about the voices offer. Before he could make a decision, he would like to know whether her claim is true or not. Hajime starts walking into a back alley away from prying eyes, and took out his 'compass' and 'gate key' from 'treasure warehouse'. He searches for his world using the 'compass' and tried using the 'gate key'. But the outcome was surprising, or unsurprising considering what the voice said was true. Although the compass managed to pinpoint his world's location, the 'gate key' is having trouble opening the gate. It's like trying to build a bridge at both sides of a river and yet the bridges are not in sync and aren't able to be properly connected. After confirming his suspicion, Hajime starts the conversation with the voice again.

'Alright, you proof your point, now how do I free you'

'Meet me at these coordinates'

After she said that, a coordinate was placed in the 'compass', pointing at the direction of what seems to be her location.

(Alright, I'll just use this)

Considering the voice said that the 'gate key' can be activated in this world only, he immediately uses it to travel to her location, and this time the gate has been properly connected. As he activates the key a large gate adorned with white-colored pair of large doors about 2 meters in height, it's also adorn with beautiful golden patterns. The gate looks as if it's a divine gate of the heavens. As Hajime turn the key on the locks, the double doors open slowly with white fog coming out of it. As the door opens light begin to shine through the gaps of the doors. After the gate opens, Hajime enters through the gate, and the gate closes the same way as it opens and disappear.

Of course, all these is just a useless performance that didn't have anything to do with the function of the gate. All these is just the maker's (Hajime's) preference. This shows how confident the demon king is, or how the demon king has too much time.

—XXXXX—

After crossing through the gate Hajime was standing in darkness. Although thanks to one of his skills, 'night vision', he can see just fine as if it's day time. What he saw was a room that looked secured and sturdy. Not only is the room secured, it also has an effect of dispersing magic that forms in the air, just like in Miledi Raisen's labyrinth. In the middle of the room there is a pedestal, on top of it enshrines a thick book. The book is chained up so that no-one can open it. Hajime can sense a thick aura coming from the book, for an otaku like himself it didn't take long for him to identify the object in front of him.

'So. Are you the voice that guided me here? Are you a grimoire?'

Yes, the book itself is a grimoire. Hajime comunicates through 'telepathy', worried that if he talks some security system would sound the alarm. He already erased his presence, distort space making him invisible, as well as hid his body temperature and smell. He is very cautious in enemy territory even if he is the world's strongest.

'Yes, I've been waiting for you, demon king'

'How did you know I was the demon king'

'I've observed your past through the world's record'

'World's record? I've only just today arrived to this world'

'Yes, however your exploits in killing a god, no matter if it's real or not, has spread to the neighboring worlds. Only some beings has access to this information'

'I see'

(Great, just how did that get spread through other worlds. Well, considering a god that rules it is dead seems to be attracting some attention)

'So, what do I do now?'

'First, release my chains. My magic power has been drained dry to free myself. And the moment I'm released, the security alarm will activate, and security will flood this place in 1 minute and 30 second. Second, form a contract with me. This will allow you access to the power I promise. The contract is performed by giving me your blood. The contract itself will take 1 minute to complete. However there will be some side effects to the contract, considering your body's physiology. And third, escape from this place'

'I see. I have some questions if you don't mind'

'Yes. Ask away'

'One, is freeing you considered illegal? And second, what side effects will I experience?'

'Answer one, this place belongs to an illegal organization. Answer two, I don't know, but I can assure you that you'll still remain human'

'Heh, if I'm still considered human'

After contemplating for a second, Hajime made up his mind and decides to form the contract. First, he uses 'transmutation' to destroy the chains and free the grimoire. As soon as he did that an alarm resounded the area informing of a disturbance. Second, he immediately cut the skin on his right hand, considering his left hand is only artificial, and let blood flow through. He grasp the book with his blood stained hand and the contract os beginning to form. While this was happening he experiences pain throughout his entire body, just like how he lost his humanity and gained power, although not as painful as before thanks to one of his skills, 'pain nullification'.

After 1 minute, the contract is formed and Hajime feels power rising inside him. No, to be more accurate it's as if a dam broke down and a gush of power came through it.

 _30 seconds until breaching_

Hajime reminds himself of the short time limit he has. He began to inspect his surroundings. Securities are coming, the grimoire is nowhere to be seen, and he felt a slight disturbance with his body.

'Where are you?'

'I'm inside of you, to be more accurate I'm bound to your soul so I'm somewhere your soul is'

Hajime questions the grimoire and the answer came through his head.

 _20 seconds until breaching_

Hajime immediately opens the gate to escape the facility, which took a ten second process.

 _10 second until breaching_

Hajime immediately rush through the gate and closes it so that he won't be followed.

 _0 seconds unril breaching_

The security forces immediately enters the room where hajime was once was, and saw a gate disappearing into thin air leaving behind a cloud of fog on the ground.

—XXXXX—

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!!?"

Hajime came back to the alleyway he was just at, and immediately inspects the changes to his body. 1) his voice is of a higher pitch. 2) his hair is white again. 3) his hair is also longer, reaching his waist. 4) his height is a little shorter. 5) there are C-cup mounds on his chest. 6) his symbol of male down his crotch is missing. In conclusion, _he_ bacame a _she._ After he noticed this change he let out that voice of confusion. He immediately demands an explanation from the grimoire, forgetting he can use 'telepathy'.

"Oi, what's with the sudden change in gender, huh!?"

'Calm down, it's only one of the least disturbing side effects that could occur since in this world, only female has the proficiency to wield magics.'

After the grimoire said that, Hajime began to cool of his, or rather, her head. And begin to talk back with 'telepathy'.

'Oh? So what other side effects that could occur'

The grimoire answers her questions with a serious of scenarios.

'One would be either loss of body parts, another one would be a sudden change in age, whether it'll be older or younger, and another one would be contracting some form of sickness that never heals'

'I see. Well I don't care anymore if I'm at least still humanoid shaped. Although my hair became white again, after all the trouble to get it back to black'

( I'll just ask Yue or Kaori to change it back again, but how will I explain this)

After looking her body thoroughly again she notices that her body is somewhat smaller, and her clothes are slipping off. Although her body shrank, there are some parts that increases in size, such as the breasts and the buttocks, making an hourglass shape in her waist. It's a miracle that her artificial arm and eye changed together with her body, probably through the nature of 'transmutation'. And there's an uncomfortable feeling in her nether region, probably because she is wearing a male's underwear. She also notices that she has high proficiency in magic and are able to use the 'Age of Gods' magic without limitations, although it would need some practice. Other than that everything is the same.

After checking her own body, probably because of the noise she made earlier, some hooligans came into the alleyway and starts to flirt on her.

"Hey look guys, some beauty we have our selves here"

"Yeah, look at those huge breasts!"

"Hey miss, do you mind keeping us company?"

"""Gyahahaha—"""

The three of them starts to say whatever comes to their minds. Unamused, Hajime ignores them starts to walk away.

( what cliched development, I don't really need any of this right now)

However, ignoring her thought and the three hooligans blocks away her every exit.

"Oi. Where are you going, huh?"

"That's right, don't ignore us"

"Yeah, we only want to ha—"

Before the last guy finishes his sentence, Hajime already knocks down all three of them out using one of her skills, 'intimidation'. By using this skill she intimidates the three people surrounding her with enough fear that made them pass out of consciousness with foams in their mouths. The three of them have also soiled themselves. Like nothing ever happened, Hajime immediately walks out of the alleyway into the main street looking for some lodging.

—XXXXX—

In a certain organization's conference room a meeting is being held. Their discussion is about the grimoire of the abyss that went missing a couple of hours ago.

"So, no lead has been found yet? Who the hell is in charge of security!?"

"Relax, it's not something they expect. After all the perpetrator is using some kind of advanced spacial transfer magic"

"Isn't that just an excuse, I thought you said the vault has a counter measures for that"

"The counter measures for that are only to not allow a teleporter to see where their destination is. The room is sealed shut with no air or light, the location of the facility is also top secret"

"Which means, either we have a mole in our group, or the perpetrator has some kind of detection magic"

"And also the fact that they managed to unseal the chains within minutes right before security arrives"

"It doesn't matter, has the preparation been complete?"

"Although it was unfortunate that the grimoire was stolen, everything has been prepared so we don't need it anymore"

"Excellent, proceed as scheduled. And I want the perpetrator to be captured alive or dead. Whom ever this is, is a threat to our creed"

""Yes, sir""

"Good. Disperse!"

And so, as the meeting come to a close, a shadow is approaching the peace and order of this world.


	4. Chapter 3 Mall incident

After a few minutes of searching, Hajime manages to find a lodging hotel called the 'Golden Angel'. It's the first lodging facility she found which also happens to be the most expensive one in this district. The name made it an irony because Hajime is the demon king.

She made her way to the receptionist and immediately book a place to stay for one night. Although the receptionist wonders on where Hajime's luggages are, she immediately brushed it off considering there are some customers who didn't bring their luggage as well. The receptionist give the room card key to Hajime which is room number 666 on the 6th floor, another irony to her existence.

As Hajime enters her room she immediately leaps onto the bed which is king sized and melts the fatigue away from her body.

'Hey grimoire, you there?'

'Yes, I'm here'

As soon as Hajime asks, the grimoire immediately responds.

'Hey, what's your name? Do you not have any?'

'I am called the grimoire of the abyss. I don't have any names'

'I see...'

After a moment of silence Hajime thought for a second before stating his opinion.

'...then I'll name you Set'

'Set?'

'That's right, Set. Named after the god of death'

'Set, Set...'

Set repeats the name she was given over and over so that she won't forget it. _Deja vu,_ thought Hajime as this interaction has happened before as well. She was also bad at giving names back then as well.

Now that Hajime is well rested she would like to observe her new abilities. The magics she has includes: 'creation magic', 'reproduction magic', 'gravity magic', 'spatial magic', 'soul magic', 'sublimation magic', 'metamorphosis magic'. All these magics are related to the power of the gods.

'Creation magic' controls inorganic materials.

'Metamorphosis magic' controls organic materials.

'Reproduction magic' controls time.

'Gravity magic' controls gravity.

'Spatial magic' controls space.

'Soul magic' controls the state of the soul.

'Sublimation magic' evolves all magic and skills.

All this time she was only able to use 'creation magic' considering her job as a synergist which deals with inorganic materials. But after her contract with Set, she can now feel that she's able to use all of them. Eventually after some training Hajime predicts that she'll be as powerful as or more than Yue.

After 1 hour of training in her room, Hajime decides that it's time to get some new clothes. Her current clothing is not suitable for her current gender as well as for battle, considering it's now a little loose. But before she goes out she just remembered something.

'Oh yeah, will I able to turn back to a guy again?'

Hajime asks Set if she could turn back into her original genders.

'As long as the contract is active, you won't be able to change back. And if the contract is canceled, both of us will die. But...'

'But?'

'But it's not as if there's no way for you to change genders. Considering you have the 'metamorphosis magic' along with 'sublimation magic''

'Oh I see, then I'd better get to work with my magic training'

After she hears what's she wanted to hear, Hajime goes out to buy some clothes at the nearby mall.

—XXXXX—

After spending 1 and a half hour at the mall buying clothes (considering her senses of fashion is also terrible, she asks the shop employees for advice and ended up spending that much time), Hajime is now wearing a white shirt with a black bow tie, combined with black mini-skirt and black stockings. She still wears her black overcoat, only the size is adjusted to match hers. Right now her clothing article is like the female version of her male attire. The rest of her clothes made for casual wears are stuffed inside the bag she was holding. She also bought women's underwear to replace the one she had. Considering she has seven wives with different body shapes, it didn't gave her any inconvenience when buying them. Although wearing them is another thing altogether.

Although she can put her shopping away in her 'treasure warehouse', she decides to work herself out by carrying them. Her friend (right-hand man) made a sound argument that you shouldn't be too lazy just because you have access to the world's most convenient artifacts.

Before she goes back to the hotel to check her loot, Hajime spotted a stall selling some crepes and decides to buy some. Although she doesn't have much of a sweet tooth while she was male, she heard that females has a sweet tooth and decides to find out if it's true.

 _Hmmnn!!~_ As she was enjoying the taste of sweets she never thought she liked, a large explosion occured in some parts of the mall.

 _DOOGAAAAAANN!!!*_

Alarms resounded the entire area and guys covered head to toe with black uniforms storms the mall with weapons armed.

 _A terrorist attack?_ As Hajime thought this, she immediately hid her presence and watches as the situation unfold. _Hahhh~ what a joykill._ Hajime thought and sigh at this unexpected circumstance.

—XXXXX—

Report came through the headquarter of Eden that a terrorist attack appeared at Central Mall, and has taken over the facility with hostages as a threat. Einherjars are quickly being dispatched. Along with einherjars, two valkyries who were in the area were also being dispatched. One of such valkyrie is non other tha Ciel Grandania. The other one who is a senior by a year and the one who is in-charge of Ciel's training, her name is Lorem Lotte. While Ciel is currently S-rank, Lorem is currently SS-rank which means she is capable than Ciel is.

The units of Eden are currently surrounding the mall, the commander in-charge is trying to negotiate with the terrorist.

"This is pointless, they would never comply to any demands we make after all the time, effort, and money they waste taking control the area"

Lorem said this to herself with exasperated expression. No-one around could hear her except for Ciel, the one who is standing right next to her.

"Now, now. Why don't we give them a chance? After all we need to prioritize the hostages"

Ciel tried to calmed down he senior who are currently in a bad mood.

"You're too soft Ciel. These guys won't give up until the odds aren't in their favor, or if their will is broken"

"But we still can't do anything without hurting the hostages"

"However Ciel, you should know that in these situations, the longer we wait the lower the chances are for the hostages to survive"

"I see"

Ciel knew that this is a serious situation. She can't help but feel helpless just like when she was about to be killed by the 'Colossus'.

"Are worried about that thing again?"

"Huh? How can you tell?"

"It's written all over your face, everyone makes mistakes, the only thing that matters is if you're dead or not"

Silence spread after that short interactions. Ciel can't help but remember about that attack that saved her life. It was a flash of red line that spread sparks of electricity in it's way, a railgun. In a way that shot was quite beautiful. As Ciel thought this an explosion occurs in the mall sending something big out of it.

"What was that !?"

Lorem immediately take action as someone asked that question, preparing her spear for combat.

What appeared seems to be is a giant dragon covered with black scale and red veins all over it's body.

"An SSS-grade tyrannal beasts !?"

Lorem immediately recognizes it and identify it as an SSS-grade threat level. Because she is currently SS-ranked, taking down that thing will be quite difficult even with the help from Ciel.

However what made her surprise was not the sudden appearance of the dragon, but the fact that something blasted it away, and also the fact that it sustained from multiple injuries that the dragon is having difficulty in healing, because of all the scorched flesh.

As the dragon stands back up, it glares into the interiors of the mall as if it detected it's enemy. What came out of the mall was a woman that appeared to be 17 years old with waist-length white hair, her eyes are pitch black as if they were the abyss themselves. She wears a long black overcoat. In her left hand she carries a large black revolver named 'schlag'. And in her right hand what supposed to be her other revolver named 'donner' was instead replaced by a giant eerie black scythe. The scythe has a beautiful red engravings on it making it look like the weapon of the grim reaper. The name of the scythe is 'Set', the grimoire of the abyss.

—XXXXX—

At the time where the terrorists has just claimed control of the mall, Hajime sat at one of the bench in the mall overlooking everything at what's happening. The terrorists works fast and efficient as if they were from the military. However they're not because all of them are males. Either there's a secret black ops unit or a foreign country soldiers, in this world only females are made to be soldiers, considering they are the only ones that can use magic. Set also explained how the order here are maintained by the Eden's military force. Also in this city, the city is called Aisen, there are only two valkyrie-rank soldier.

Hajime stealthily took out her 'reconnaissance drone' from 'treasure warehouse', as well as her 'spider golems'. As she spawns the 'spider golems', all of them seems surprised at by the appearance of their master. The 'reconnaissance drone' will scout the exteriors of the mall, while the 'spider golems' scout the interiors of the mall. All the information from both artifacts are shared through her artificial right eye. Everything they see is what Hajime sees as well.

It seems odd for a group of well established terrorists to attack a simple shopping mall. After looking through their activities, Hajime concluded that they are trying dig out a relic located under the mall, as well as using it to summoned something powerful. After a few minutes of work the terrorists manages to find the relic. The relic looks like rubik's cube but with only one color and it has different kinds of symbols.

(I bet that you need to place them in some kind of order to make it do something)

'That cube is called the 'statements of Hael', it allows the cube to initiate any command within it's programing'

As Hajime thought this, Set begin an explanation about the relics.

'Why would you know that?'

'Because that was created using my syntax'

'Heehh...'

Although a bomb shell like that would disturbed a normal person, Hajime could care less about Set's past life.

As this interactions was going on, one the terrorist began to work on the cube, following the instructions of another terrorist that are holding what appears to be a guide at sloving the puzzle.

As soon as they finished, the cube began to shine brightly and a magic circle appears in front of everybody. Whitin the magic circle, a single dragon that are 10 meters in length covered by jet black scales and red veins all over it's body. The dragon roars as if it was a deity that has been released after few decades of imprisonment. As it roared, miasma scattered the area, those near it can't help but tremble. Considering no-one outside notices the roar it's safe to say that the terrorists made some measures to block any sounds from leaking.

'The dragon is named 'Bahamut', an SSS-plus grade tyrannal beast'

'An SSS-plus? I thought there was only until SSS?'

'The term SSS-plus has been lost in history, considering no beast of such level has existed ever again'

'I see. So that is an endangered species. Although it's surprising that it's an SSS-plus grade threat considering it's size'

'It's size is only a part of it, what made them dangerous is the amount of energy it contains'

'I see, just like a nuclear warhead'

As Hajime was having this conversation, the terrorists were kneeling in front of 'Bahamut' as if a god has descended. It also means that these terrorists are simply fanatics. And it appears that the hostages are going to be used as sacrifices for the dragon.

(What a tempting situation)

Hajime thought these as she surveys the area. The terrorists are defenselessly kneeling on the spot. The dragon is a powerful being that is considered extinct. The hostages are all gathered as a group in the corner of the mall. This situation is as if someone has make a way through a crowded area. All of these people that are boldly letting down their guard, knowing the sadistic nature of the demon king, these situation is as if someone gave her a toy.

 _Isn't this the perfect moment?_ Hajime thought this and immediately summons 16 'cross velts', it's an artifact similar to the 'reconnaissance drone' only the difference being in that the 'cross velt' is equiped with a revolver as one of it's function. All 'cross velt' is aimed at all the terrorists heads, since there are 18 terrorists, Hajime also pulled out her two revolvers, donner and schlag, and aimed at the remaining two.

 _DOPAANN!!*_

A single gunshot noise was heard, but all the terrorists heads have been pierced by a bullet shot from a gun that are as powerful as an anti-material rifle.

The dragon immediately notices this and look at her direction. Hajime stood proudly in front directing a large killing intent at the dragon. If this was a human, they would immediately die of heart attack.

Hajime begins by charging forward with great velocity thanks to one of her skills, 'divine step'. As she got close she immediately emptied the clip of both guns at point blank range in the dragon's chests. The bullet were further accelerated electromagnetically by 'lightning clad', further increasing it's lethality.

 _DOPAANN!!*_

Although that is still not enough, as it was only a minor flesh wounds to the dragon. _What a troublesome fellow._ Hajime that this while retreating creating some distance from the dragons strike. Meanwhile the wounds already healed, causing Hajime to spit a curse.

"Damn. How troublesome"

While dodging the dragon's every strike, Hajime reloads her guns and immediately shot at it again. Hajime uses a hit and run tactics to slowly kill the beast. The wounds the dragon were afflicted by are slowly regenerating itself.

As if annoyed by Hajime's persistent onslaught, the dragon breathes in ready for a breath attack. However as if she was expecting it, Hajime commands the 'cross velts' to circle around the dragon's head. One of the functions of 'cross velt' is the ability to create a barrier m. As the barrier covered the dragon's head, 'Bahamut' unleashed it's attack.

 _DOGAAAANNN!!!*_

An explosion occurred and the dragon's head is scorched. However immediately afterwards it regenerates again. _Tch,_ Hajime clicked his tongue and continue her assault.

As time goes on Hajime not only uses bullets anymore, but sometimes she strikes the dragon using either 'air claw', 'great arm', and 'grand leg'. And of course the wound started to regenerate, however the more they fight the speed of it's regeneration is reduced by 0.001 seconds.

'You seemed to be in quite the trouble'

'Not really. I still have many things up my sleeve, and I have not gotten used to this body yet'

'Would you like some assistance then?'

'Heh... although I can keep going, you picked my interests, what can you do?'

'What's important is what you do, I'm only a weapon'

'Very well then, show me what you've got'

As Hajime made this conversation, she still managed to dodge some attacks and counter attack back at it. Not a moment too soon, Set appears in front of Hajime in the form of a scythe. Without a moments delay, Hajime put away 'donner' and grabbed Set's handle and charge at 'Bahamut' delivering several slashes increased by the skill 'air claw'. The scythe absorbs magic power from it's wielder to strengthens itself.

As they battled, almost all of the insides of the mall is destroyed. The only safe place is where the hostages are located, as Hajime skillfully guided the battle away from them.

After a serious of slashes, Hajime kicks away the dragon using the skill 'grand leg' that are increased by 'sublimation magic'. And then used the scythes power. By using the combination of 'lighting clad'; 'gravity magic'; 'spatial magic'; 'sublimation magic'; and a magic circle for a 'light magic', a ray of red beam was launched at the dragon causing a lot of damage, sending the dragon outside.

(Hmm? Although this can be useful, right now it's not that much without practice)

As Hajime walks outside she could see that the dragon is trying to stand back up, having trouble healing from the previous attack. Without fear, as if she's looking down on a pebble, Hajime walks slowly to the dragon taunting it. The dragon, angered at her provocation, immediately sets up for a breath attack.

What the dragon shoots out is a beam of energy more powerful than before, enough to incinerate anything in it's path. Hajime simply stood there and put away 'schlag' and then summons her coffin like shield to protect herself. The shield, made out of the hardest material in 'Tortus', is staked through the ground unmoving and uneffected by the dragon's breath. The surroundings of the mall was reduced to dust except for the ones that's behind Hajime. To get a better position, the dragon tried to fly in the air gaining some high ground advantage, but that was a mistake. Hajime, now saw that the dragon float in the air without anything in it's surrounding, which also means she didn't need to hold back.

As soon as she held out her left hand, the ones that are holding 'burst-hyperion', a very powerful artifact that stores away solar enegy only waiting to be released, unleashed a blast of concentrated solar at the dragon. The blasts were 10 times more powerful than the dragon's breath incinerated the dragon's core in it's chest, killing it in a process. The beam didn't stop at the dragon, it traveled far passed the city limit and hit a mountain, incinerated a quarter of it in the process.

Silence filled the air at what just happened. And Nagumo Hajime inwardly thought, _oh sh*t._ She was too late to realizes that she was now being watched by a lot of witneses.


	5. Chapter 4 Outside lunch

—A/N—

Some slight changes are available in the previous chapter that are relevant to this chapter.

—End—

After 'Bahamut', the SSS-plus grade tyrannal beast was annihilated. Silence spreads the area in front of what's left of the mall. It seems that the battle caused more damage than Hajime previously thought.

(Sh*t, I was hoping to come back shopping clothes here again. Wait, now I'm starting to think like a girl)

As Hajime sighed depressingly, she look around to observe the aftermath. The only parts of the mall that are safe is shaped into a triangle, as if one object was protecting it, though that is exactly what happened. Then Hajime look at the crowd of military officials, and curious bystanders. They are all stunned. Then she looks into the distance, where a quarter of a mountain is destroyed by 'burst-hyperion'. At this mess of destruction Hajime only thought of one thing.

(At least there's still a mountain left this time)

Then she shifts her thoughts to the dragon, the corpse of the 'Bahamut' is still slightly twitching. When Haime looks through it using her right eye, she saw that it has two cores. One was destroyed in the chest, while the other one is in the head. When Hajime thought to shoot it with her gun, Set spoke up.

'Wait, use me instead. It'll give some advantages'

'Well watever'

Hajime agreed and approach the dragon after putting away her shield. As she stood in front of the dragon's head, it twitch, signifying that it's pretending to be dead. Without mercy, Hajime swing down the scythe, piercing it's skull like butter, finally ending it's life.

As the scythe was stabbed in through the core, energy was being transferred from the dragon into Hajime, more precisely the soul that is linked with Hajime (Set).

'Hmm. What happened?'

'The scythe form has a function of syphoning energy of corpes'

'I see'

Hajime look through her phone, where her status information was stored and updated. From the content, it appears that her magic capacity is increased by 1.000. Which is a lot considering an average people's stats is at least 300, and a hero has at leat 1.000. Though with Hajime's 100.000 stats value those means nothing.

'Pretty low considering it's an SSS-plus tyrannal beast'

'The reason for it's low output is due to the fact that it already wasted a lot of energy. If it was in top condition it would yield to about 10.000 points'

'I see'

While they're communicating via 'telepathy', Lorem calls out to Hajime.

"Hey, you. Identify yourself"

Although Hajime could hypnotize her to solve things, however it's not wise to show a lot of cards towards the enemy, thought Hajime.

'A little late for that don't you think?'

Set retorted in Hajime's mind, but the demon king just ignored it. After accumulating the experience of ignoring that kind of statement, comments like that went on deaf's ear.

"Hey, answer me!"

As Lorem tried to demand a second time Hajime simply return it with a shrug. Then Hajime gathers magic power into the scythe and then tap it onto the ground, not long after that, she vanished. To be more accurate, she teleported away. The scythe, or more precisely the grimoire, has the ability to increase the aptitude for magic to the user. What Hajime used was the combination of: 'spatial magic' and 'sublimation magic'.

Her destination is near where the fight with the 'Colossus' took place. It seems that the cleanup still haven't finished yet.

'Hmm. Looks like they had trouble removing the corpse of the 'Colossus''

'Master, that is not an S grade threat 'Colossus', but an SS grade threat 'Goliath''

'Huh? But they said it was a 'Colossus''

''Goliaths' are ancient beasts that have ceased to exist hundreds of years ago. Incidentally, 'Colossus' are said to be descendants of 'Goliaths''

'What's the difference?'

'While 'Colossus' are giants with only 20 meters in average height, 'Goliaths' are giants with 30 meters in average height. 'Goliath' also had the ability to shoot energy beams from their compound eyes, though their looks aren't too much of a difference if you don't look close enough, and the fact that the 'Goliath' has two cores as well'

(Well I haven't exactly saw a 'Colossus' before)

'So you're saying that that guy appeared the same way 'Bahamut' appeared?'

'There's a 75% chance that, that is the case'

Without responding, Hajime tried to travel back to her hotel room but stops as she just thought of something. She immediately approaches the corpse of the 'Goliath' while hiding her presence, and tore a 500 grams worth of flesh. She puts away the scythe, as it disappeared and went back into her body, and then Hajime goes back to the hotel.

—XXXXX—

Back at the mall, right when Hajime teleports away, all parties present are confused at what just happened. Lorem however, came back to her senses immediately and ordered the officers to secure the hostages.

As the work progress quickly, with a slight delay caused by curious bystanders and noisy journalists, Ciel was lost in thought at what just happened.

(It couldn't be...but...however. No, the attack was different. But...if that is the same person who saved me then...)

Ciel was confused, wondering if the person she saw was the same one that saved her from the 'Colossus' ( *Goliath ). After all, it was a baseless thought since she didn't saw her savior at all, and Hajime didn't show her railgun attacks in front of her. However she had some kind of gut feeling that she's right.

—XXXXX—

Ciel was reminded of her first assignment she had. Ciel was happy, at the same time anxious, for her first mission. She was facing what seems to be a 'Colossus' from the information gathered by the einherjars in combat. However, the 'Colossus' seemed bigger than the normal ones. And when Ciel made the first move and fired at the giant, the giant counterattacked by firing a beam of it's own.

(Is this really a 'Colossus'?)

Ciel thought this when she heard that usually the giant's only threat is its size. But this one seemed different. Not only does it shoots back, but it's also agile enough to dodge some of her attacks. And the most troublesome part is where not only is the body hard, but some of the damage is already started healing

The fight continued for a long time, and some of the cityscape is destroyed in the crossfires. Ciel was buying time since she heard that reinforcements will arrive shortly. And when they arrived to pin the giant down to give her time, Ciel went to the initiative to use all the remaining energy in her V-drive to make a final strike at the core.

Just as she was exhausted, the giant stood back up trying to make another attack. And that was when someone saved her life.

—XXXXX—

After she thought about that memory, Ciel decides to find that person again and ask her herself about the truth.

Elsewhere.

When Hajime got back to her room, she immediately teleports back to the wasteland to test some things.

In here she took out the meat of the 'Goliath', as well as some magic powered stove, a frying pan, and some seasonings. That's right, Hajime decides to eat the meat of the 'Goliath' and find out if she can obtain it's power. And since Hajime hadn't eaten yet, this is a perfect opportunity to eat her spoils. Although Hajime didn't have to cook it properly to take it's powers, she already had enough bad experiencs of food during her time in the abyss.

Hajime puts on an apron and then tied her hair back in a ponytail. Hajime learned to do a lot of hairstyles for girls since she was made to help her other wives with it.

First she preheats the frying pan, and then adds some cooking oil. After that she places the meat that has been sliced a reasonable size into the now hot pan. While she spread some seasonings into the pan, she used her other hand to shoot some approaching beast that tried to make a sneak attack.

 _DOPAANN!!*_

 _"Kuwaaan—!!"_

The beast, that looked like a wolf type tyrannal beast, shout out it's death cry. Then the rest of the pack approaches in an attempt to avenge their fallen comrade. Hajime, while not looking at the attaking beasts, used a 'cross velt' to surpress (massacre) her assailants.

 _DOPAANN!!* *DOPAANN!!* *DOPAANN!!*_

With the sound of gunshots as the background music, Hajime continues her cooking as if she didn't care what happens around her at all. After a few minutes the dish is finished, what appeared was a fried beef- of some kind (since the meat wasn't exactly from an animal).

Then she proceeds to transmute herself a table and a chair from the ground, and started to eat her dish. And before she knows it the area is already filled with a pile of 20 wolf corpses.

"Hmmhmm...not bad"

That was Hajime's first impression of the dish. Even in this world, eating from a tyrannal beast is basically eating poison, since the miasma in it's body is not a match to a human's constitution. However with one of Hajime's skill, 'iron stomach', she can eat it normally with only a slight numbness in her body.

After a few minutes of eating Hajime was only half way done, and she's already feeling full. It seems that Hajime didn't consider the fact that she was now a girl.

(Damn, I should've expected this * _Burp*_ )

As Hajime was resting her stomach, she grabs her phone and looked into her status. It seems that she received a new skill called 'eye beam'. From the sounds of it, it will allow Hajime to shoot out a beam of energy out of her eye.

As that concept tickled her inner chuunibyou, she decides to test it out. As she concentrate her energy into her eyes, a red beam of energy was unleashed into the distance. However the beam only came out of her left eye as it turned red during it's firing sequence, as well as a few seconds after.

From this Hajime hypothesized that the beam will only fire using a biological eye. Although Hajime could regenerate her lost eye using 'reproduction magic' and 'metamorphosis magic', she didn't as that scarr was a symbol of her time in the other world.

After that she test fired a dozen pf times until her stomach is well rested, and decides to teleport back to her room. Today has been a long day and Hajime slept like a log that night.

—XXXXX—

During another meeting in the criminal organization.

"So, 'Bahamut' was terminated?"

"Yes. How unfortunate, the same can be said with 'Goliath'"

"It does not matter, what's important is that the information we gathered from the grimoire works"

"Yes. If we proceed as plan, then our creed will eventually be achieved"

"But what about our observation target"

"Which ones?"

"All of them"

"I think that the one who stole the grimoire and the one who killed 'Bahamut' is one and the same, we are currently searching for her"

"And what about the other one, the one who possessed the soul of the great lord?"

"No significant changes occur. What do you want to do?"

"I think we should sped up our time table. How soon is the next phase?"

"6 days"

"Make it 5. I have a feeling that we need to proceed quickly"

""Yes, sir""

"Good. Dimissed!"

Another meeting came to a close and the darkness slowly approaches.


End file.
